Dee Smythe

Dr Dee Smythe is a Professor of Public Law and Director of Research in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She was the founding Director of the Centre for Law and Society and Director of the Law, Race and Gender Unit, both at UCT. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law in 2009, she was Principal Researcher at the Gender, Health and Justice Research Unit in UCT's Faculty of Health Sciences. Dee has been a Fulbright Fellow at Stanford Law School, where she completed her graduate studies. Her research spans a range of areas at the intersection of law, policy, and social justice. She is an expert on state responses to gender-based violence, with a specific focus on sexual offences. She has also written on traditional courts, HIV/AIDS, crime prevention, and police transformation, and convened the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers' focus group on Women, Equality and Constitutionalism.